Chapter Text
The first thing Freyja felt in six years was the urge to puke her guts out.
She attempted immediately to do just that, lurching forward as her stomach spasmed and a rush of saliva flooded her mouth. Someone or something grabbed a hold of her shoulder, speaking in a reassuring tone (or so she presumed) but Freyja was not quite coherent yet, still half blind and unable to distinguish language after so long in cryo. Something white and vaguely blob-like appeared in her peripheral vision and she had the sense to grasp that, practically dry retching whatever was left in her stomach into what felt like a sick bag. The individual holding her shoulder still patted her back gently and Freyja leaned into the touch as much as she could without being obviously touch-starved, her vision beginning to return to normal as she blinked into the cryo chamber.
“Easy- easy there darlin’. Take it easy - you’re doing great.” She half-glanced at the attendant currently detaching a variety of tubes both from Freyja and her cryotube, he was an older man, balding on the top of his head and wearing a pair of glasses that made his eyes look triple their size.
“Feel better now you got all that out?” The guy asked and Freyja made a quiet noise of both affirmation and irritation, earning a chuckle from the attendant.
“Okay, you’re unhooked, so whenever you’re ready, you can head towards that hatch and you’ll be prepped for landing. Can you do that for me?” Freyja debated aiming a withering look at that but decidedly restrained her facial features and merely nodded, tucked her arms to her chest as began to wiggle through the zero-G towards said hatch. Sliding through it, she felt the immediate effects of the artificial gravity on the other side, all but crawling to her feet. Another attendant rushed to her side, helping her up and Freyja inhaled sharply at the sudden strangeness of standing on her own two feet after so long horizontal, muscles she didn’t even know existed tugging painfully and Freyja bounced on her feet a little, getting used to the feeling of standing again. She hissed a quiet breath out, realising she’d been holding it as she stretched onto her toes and looked up to find the attendant watching her in an amused fashion.
“Ready to go, Miss Aster?”
The debrief on planet was shorter than Freyja had expected and reminded her more of her school days than anything else. The colonel with the scar seemed distracted, his intimidating speech coming off as a principal lecturing his students, despite it clearly being an attempt to distil fear into new arrivals. Everything that moves is out to kill you, you might not make it back alive, your gun is your best friend blah, blah, blah.
Freyja had grown up in Australia, surely Pandora couldn’t be worse than that. She was willing to reckon they didn’t have hand-sized spiders or saltwater-spinning death machines here. She knew logically that her chance of dying here was astronomically higher than it was on Earth but for some reason, as she peeked out the windows at the glorious forests surrounding Hellsgate, it wouldn’t be so bad to die here. She hadn’t seen anything this green in her entire life, although she’d travelled, nothing Earth-wise would even compare to the sliver of flora she’d already mentally catalogued.
Speaking of flora, her eyes swept the room for someone who could assist her in locating Grace Augustine, who she had come to both assist and research alongside. In her search, she failed to notice the colonel approaching her, his eyes beady and locked on her.
“Aster! I’ve heard good things.” Freyja jumped, snapping around to eye the colonel, forcing a friendly expression as she assessed the man in front of her. He was not much taller than her, but he held himself in that way military folk and ballet dancers do, like they’ve got a steel rod up their ass.
“Colonel…” She eyed his badge and smiled faintly.
“...Quaritch. I’m not sure what exactly you’ve heard but it’s nice to meet you, sir.” Quaritch dipped his head at her, something close to a smirk curling the right side of his face upwards. Freyja tried not to stare at the scarring marring his features, although he seemed the type not to really mind.
“Walk with me - I’ll show you to where Dr Augustine and her gaggle are set up.” Freyja nodded, hugging her pack to her chest as Quaritch paced ahead, his strides far longer than her own despite their lack of real height difference. He carried himself very proudly and it made Freyja weary of her own posture, pulling her shoulders back and straightening her spine as she hurried to keep up.
“When I got told I had another rookie Avatar pilot inbound, I almost couldn’t believe it. Then one of my boys pulled up your files, biological weaponry? You don’t look the type.” She nearly scoffed at that, there was no particular type when it came to that kind of research and he probably thought he was being funny. Freyja glanced over at him, finding his face almost sincere and she ducked around a group of loud science types, taking the reprieve from the intense stare Quaritch had trained on her.
“Well, the research began as a means to develop and understand both sides, biological weaponry and defence, that’s why I’m here. The flora here is notable for having defensive mechanisms, amongst other things and that was what my final thesis regarded - if you got around to looking through that.” Freyja levelled her gaze at him and was rewarded by a flicker of surprise from Quaritch, which was almost immediately smoothed by an amused smile.
“Whoa tiger, I don’t think you’re about to toss infected bodies over the gates here. Good to know you’re passionate about what you do. Now, I have a quick favour to ask, as I know that you’ll be stepping into an Avatar in the next few days-” There was a sudden shout and an almost scuffle further along the hallway and then a familiar dark-haired man hurried into frame. Norm Spellman, who Freyja had spoken with at length during several calls whilst they were still on Earth prepping for the AVTR Program, was taller and older than Freyja had originally realised. They had studied the language together and had practised linking at the same time on different sides of the world several times. Norm had flown out a month and a half before Freyja and she’d been entirely envious of his experiencing everything for a whole forty-five days before she got to.
“Oel ngati kameie.” Norm brought his fingers from his forehead before he extended them towards her. Freyja smiled warmly, repeating the phrase and gesture, almost forgetting their third wheel. Quaritch looked on, unamused by the interruption but apparently hesitant to continue whatever his request was.
“Spellman. I’ll be in touch, Aster.” Quaritch nodded at her and Freyja smiled at him, relieved that he was finally departing.
“Thank you for showing me here sir!” She waved, hiding a grimace as Quaritch practically leered back at her before he turned on his heel and strode away. Norm’s eyes lingered on her as he closed the distance between them, holding a hand out in an unsure way. Freyja disregarded the hand, stepping in to pull Norm into a hug.
“You’re so much taller than I thought you were!” She exclaimed, examining him from head to toe. Norm’s cheeks pinked a little and he chuckled a little nervously, shaking his head.
“You’re just short- hey, ow!” She jabbed him at the disrespect and then again when he flinched away.
“C’mon, I’ll show you where the rest of us are - Jake’s linking at the moment so you’ll have to meet him when he comes back to us. Grace is anxious to get you linked, if you feel up to it, would you wanna link up today?” Freyja blew her cheeks out, clicking her tongue thoughtfully. Her physical form was exhausted, but her mind needed exercise and linking would be the perfect opportunity to get that exercise.
“I’ll see how I feel once I meet everyone. Is that okay?” Norm nodded hurriedly, and they ducked around a corner, into a series of office and lab spaces. Several familiar large linking chambers dotted the room and there were a handful of lab-coated individuals scattered. Norm bee-lined for a red-haired woman and a dark-haired man, both of whom looked up when he called out to them.
The woman stood and headed to meet them halfway, the man following a moment later. Freyja hung a little behind Norm as he made introductions, smiling at Dr Augustine and Dr Patel as they were introduced to her.
“Freyja, we’re so happy to have you joining us - your research on bio-def is going to be intense here with the way the flora is. We’ll probably have to get you linking within the next few days so we can get you out there and into the field. Speaking of getting into the field, we’re likely to be relocating tomorrow or the day after, in the interest of being removed from all the noise here so don’t get too comfy in wherever they set your rooms up!” Dr Patel smiled warmly, Dr Augustine apparently still assessing Freyja silently which was a tiny bit off-putting but Freyja decided she couldn’t do anything about it, it was bound to happen. Dr Patel took his leave as something began beeping unhappily and Dr Augustine leaned in, her eyes warm.
“Freyja. It's wonderful to finally meet you. I read your assessment on Martian floras' natural defence systems. You have a way with words and your research is incredibly sound - if only there were more young people like you.” She cast a disdainful glance at the only linking chamber with its lid down and Norm hid a scoff. Freyja didn’t contain her eyebrow raise but chose not to comment on that, instead smiling at Dr Augustine.
“Dr Augustine, it's an honour. I’ve read everything you wrote before I went into cryo - you inspired both Norm and I during our time training for the AVTR program. Oh, and Norm mentioned you were keen for me to link today and Dr Patel inferred that I’d need to be linking soon so I might as well do it before we move? Does that suit your agenda?” Dr Augustine laughed quietly, shaking her head.
“Goddammit, the marine, the nerd and the people pleaser. It's Grace and Max to you sweetheart, no honorifics in my lab. Now, I would prefer you to be comfortable linking her with your full-grown body, but I understand you must be tired, despite having slept for six years. I won’t begrudge you if you want to go take a nap and come back this evening to link. You’ll just be getting used to the body and you can do that in the yard we have going on out there. We’re eyeballing moving tomorrow, which Norm can help prep you for, but it'll mean you need to be in your body at 0800 as we’re due to leave at 0900 stat. Lucky you not knowing us all that well, coz we’re gonna get real cosy in the next few months. We’re headed to the Hallelujah mountains to set up camp and the lack of space is going to be a real bitch.” Freyja nodded, her brain a little overloaded with all the information Grace was bestowing on her.
“It’s okay people please, I know it's a big day. Go take a nap, someone’ll come wake you before 1700 so you can get some link time in. Norm, show her where her room’s at.” Norm jumped up from where he’d been peering at something on a screen, smiling kindly at Freyja as he gestured for her to follow him.
“C’mon kid, not too much longer now.”